Therapeutic perspective of thiosemicarbazones derivatives in inflammatory pathologies: A summary of in vitro/in vivo studies

Opposing effects of mycotoxins alternariol and deoxynivalenol on the immunomodulatory effects of oxaliplatin and triapine

Mycotoxin occurrence in food worldwide is estimated to increase due to climate change. Moreover, studies on how these food contaminants interfere with medications and especially anticancer therapies are rare. With the rise of anticancer immunotherapies, particularly mycotoxins with immunomodulatory activity, such as alternariol (AOH) or deoxynivalenol (DON), are of great concern. Both mycotoxins interfere with the pro-inflammatory nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) pathway in myeloid cells. This pathway not only plays an important role in the anticancer immune response but also inflammatory side effects induced by chemotherapeutic drugs. Consequently, the aim of this study was to investigate possible beneficial or detrimental immunomodulatory interactions between these mycotoxins and anticancer drugs. To assess the combined influence of mycotoxins and anticancer therapies on immune cell stimulation, THP-1 NF-κB reporter cells were utilized as monocytes as well as differentiated and polarized macrophages. Parameters for activation (NF-κB activity and protein expression), differentiation (CD14 and CD71 surface marker expression) and polarization (interleukin 10 (IL10), interleukin 8 (CXCL8), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF), prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 expression and CXCL8 secretion) were assessed upon combinatory treatment. Both mycotoxins affected the immunostimulatory effects of the pre-selected anticancer drugs oxaliplatin and triapine, although in opposing directions. While AOH generally suppressed a drug-induced activation and increased anti-inflammatory IL10 levels, DON potentiated activation and pro-inflammatory markers, such as CXCL8 and TNF in immune cells. In conclusion, AOH and DON have the potential to alter the immunological effects of anticancer therapies, which should be considered during therapy as well as in their future risk assessment.

Preliminary evaluation of the toxicological, antioxidant and antitumor activities promoted by the compounds 2,4-dihydroxy-benzylidene-thiosemicarbazones an in silico, in vitro and in vivo study

Thiosemicarbazones are promising classes of compounds with antitumor activity. For this study, six 2,4-dihydroxy-benzylidene-thiosemicarbazones compounds were synthesized. These compounds were submitted to different assays in silico, in vitro and in vivo to evaluate the toxicological, antioxidant and antitumor effects. The in silico results were evaluated by the SwissADME and pkCSM platforms and showed that all compounds had good oral bioavailability profiles. The in vitro and in vivo toxicity assays showed that the compounds showed low cytotoxicity against different normal cells and did not promote hemolytic effects. The single dose acute toxicity test (2000 mg/kg) showed that none of the compounds were toxic to mice. In in vitro antioxidant activity assays, the compounds showed moderate to low activity, with PB17 standing out for the ABTS radical capture assay. The in vivo antioxidant activity highlighted the compounds 1, 6 and 8 that promoted a significant increase in the concentration of liver antioxidant enzymes. Finally, all compounds showed promising antitumor activity against different cell lines, especially MCF-7 and DU145 lines, in addition, they inhibited the growth of sarcoma 180 at concentrations lower than 50 mg/kg. These results showed that the evaluated compounds can be considered as potential antitumor agents.

Synthesis, Structural Elucidation, In Silico and In Vitro Studies of New Class of Methylenedioxyphenyl-Based Amide Derivatives as Potential Myeloperoxidase Inhibitors for Cardiovascular Protection

Novel methylenedioxyphenyl-based amides, especially N-(4-methoxybenzyl)-6-nitrobenzo-[1,3]-dioxole-5-carboxamide (MDC) and N-(3-acetylphenyl)-6-nitrobenzo-[1,3]-dioxole-5-carboxamide (ADC), potential cardiovascular preventive agents, are successfully synthesized, and their chemical structures are verified by 1H and 13C NMR, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS), and single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SC-XRD) analyses. Data obtained from SC-XRD reveal that MDC and ADC are both monoclinic molecules with Z = 2 and 4, respectively. From density functional theory (DFT) calculations, 3.54 and 3.96 eV are the energy gaps of the optimized MDC and ADC structures, respectively. MDC and ADC exhibit an electrophilicity index value of more than 1.5 eV, suggesting that they can act as an electrophile, facilitating bond formation with biomolecules. Hirshfeld surface analysis demonstrates that more than 25% of atomic interactions in both MDC and ADC are from H···H interactions. Based on pharmacokinetic predictions, MDC and ADC exhibit drug-like properties, and molecular docking simulations revealed favorable interactions with active site pockets. Both MDC and ADC achieved higher docking scores of -7.74 and -7.79 kcal/mol, respectively, with myeloperoxidase (MPO) protein. From docking results, MPO was found to be most favorable followed by dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) and α-glucosidase (α-GD). Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and in vitro enzymatic studies of MDC and ADC indicate that MDC is more selective toward MPO and more potent than ADC. The application of MDC to inhibit myeloperoxidase could be ascertained to reduce the cardiovascular risk factor. This can be supported from the results of computational docking (based on hydrogen bonding and docking score), in vitro antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, and MPO enzymatic inhibition (based on the percentage of inhibition and IC50 values).

2-{1-[(6R,S)-3,5,5,6,8,8-Hexamethyl-5,6,7,8-tetra-hydro-naphthalen-2-yl]ethyl-idene}-N-methyl-hydrazinecarbo-thioamide

The reaction between a racemic mixture of (R,S)-fixolide and 4-methyl-thio-semicarbazide in ethanol with a 1:1 stoichiometric ratio and catalysed with HCl, yielded the title compound, C20H31N3S [common name: (R,S)-fixolide 4-methyl-thio-semicarbazone]. There is one crystallographically independent mol-ecule in the asymmetric unit, which is disordered over the aliphatic ring [site-occupancy ratio = 0.667 (13):0.333 (13)]. The disorder includes the chiral C atom, the neighbouring methyl-ene group and the methyl H atoms of the methyl group bonded to the chiral C atom. The maximum deviations from the mean plane through the disordered aliphatic ring amount to 0.328 (6) and -0.334 (6) Å [r.m.s.d. = 0.2061 Å], and -0.3677 (12) and 0.3380 (12) Å [r.m.s.d. = 0.2198 Å] for the two different sites. Both fragments show a half-chair conformation. Additionally, the N-N-C(=S)-N entity is approximately planar, with the maximum deviation from the mean plane through the selected atoms being 0.0135 (18) Å [r.m.s.d. = 0.0100 Å]. The mol-ecule is not planar due to the dihedral angle between the thio-semicarbazone entity and the aromatic ring, which amounts to 51.8 (1)°, and due to the sp 3-hybridized carbon atoms of the fixolide fragment. In the crystal, the mol-ecules are connected by H⋯S inter-actions with graph-set motif C(4), forming a mono-periodic hydrogen-bonded ribbon along [100]. The Hirshfeld surface analysis suggests that the major contributions for the crystal cohesion are [(R,S)-isomers considered separately] H⋯H (75.7%), H⋯S/S⋯H (11.6%), H⋯C/C⋯H (8.3% and H⋯N/N⋯H (4.4% for both of them).

A second crystalline modification of 2-{3-methyl-2-[(2Z)-pent-2-en-1-yl]cyclo-pent-2-en-1-yl-idene}hydrazinecarbo-thio-amide

A second crystalline modification of the title compound, C12H19N3S [common name: cis-jasmone thio-semicarbazone] was crystallized from tetra-hydro-furane at room temperature. There is one crystallographic independent mol-ecule in the asymmetric unit, showing disorder in the cis-jasmone chain [site-occupancy ratio = 0.590 (14):0.410 (14)]. The thio-semicarbazone entity is approximately planar, with the maximum deviation from the mean plane through the N/N/C/S/N atoms being 0.0463 (14) Å [r.m.s.d. = 0.0324 Å], while for the five-membered ring of the jasmone fragment, the maximum deviation from the mean plane through the carbon atoms amounts to 0.0465 (15) Å [r.m.s.d. = 0.0338 Å]. The mol-ecule is not planar due to the dihedral angle between these two fragments, which is 8.93 (1)°, and due to the sp 3-hybridized carbon atoms in the jasmone fragment chain. In the crystal, the mol-ecules are connected by N-H⋯S and C-H⋯S inter-actions, with graph-set motifs R 2 2(8) and R 2 1(7), building mono-periodic hydrogen-bonded ribbons along [010]. A Hirshfeld surface analysis indicates that the major contributions for the crystal cohesion are H⋯H (67.8%), H⋯S/S⋯H (15.0%), H⋯C/C⋯H (8.5%) and H⋯N/N⋯H (5.6%) [only non-disordered atoms and those with the highest s.o.f. were considered]. This work reports the second crystalline modification of the cis-jasmone thio-semicarbazone structure, the first one being published recently [Orsoni et al. (2020 ▸). Int. J. Mol. Sci. 21, 8681-8697] with the crystals obtained in ethanol at 273 K.

Antiproliferative Activity and DNA Interaction Studies of a Series of N4,N4-Dimethylated Thiosemicarbazone Derivatives

The exploitation of bioactive natural sources to obtain new anticancer agents with novel modes of action may represent an innovative and successful strategy in the field of medicinal chemistry. Many natural products and their chemical analogues have been proposed as starting molecules to synthesise compounds with increased biological potential. In this work, the design, synthesis, and characterisation of a new series of N4,N4-dimethylated thiosemicarbazone Cu(II), Ni(II), and Pt(II) complexes are reported and investigated for their in vitro toxicological profile against a leukaemia cell line (U937). The antiproliferative activity was studied by MTS assay to determine the GI50 value for each compound after 24 h of treatment, while the genotoxic potential was investigated to determine if the complexes could cause DNA damage. In addition, the interaction between the synthesised molecules and DNA was explored by means of spectroscopic techniques, showing that for Pt and Ni derivatives a single mode of action can be postulated, while the Cu analogue behaves differently.

Synthesis, characterization, antioxidant and antiparasitic activities new naphthyl-thiazole derivatives

In this work, 13 thiosemicarbazones (1a - m) and 16 thiazoles (2a - p) were obtained, which were properly characterized by spectroscopic and spectrometric techniques. The pharmacokinetic properties obtained in silico revealed that the derivatives are in accordance with the parameters established by lipinski and veber, showing that such compounds have good bioavailability or permeability when administered orally. In assays of antioxidant activity, thiosemicarbazones showed moderate to high antioxidant potential when compared to thiazoles. In addition, they were able to interact with albumin and DNA. Screening assays to assess the toxicity of compounds to mammalian cells revealed that thiosemicarbazones were less toxic when compared to thiazoles. In relation to in vitro antiparasitic activity, thiosemicarbazones and thiazoles showed cytotoxic potential against the parasites Leishmania amazonensis and Trypanosoma cruzi. Among the compounds, 1b, 1j and 2l stood out, showing inhibition potential for the amastigote forms of the two parasites. As for the in vitro antimalarial activity, thiosemicarbazones did not inhibit Plasmodium falciparum growth. In contrast, thiazoles promoted growth inhibition. This study shows in a preliminary way that the synthesized compounds have antiparasitic potential in vitro.

Modulation of the lipophilicity and molecular size of thiosemicarbazone inhibitors to regulate tyrosinase activity

A group of 5-methylsalicylaldehyde thiosemicarbazone derivatives (HMTs) bearing different lipophilic and steric substituents attached at the 3-position of cresol ring were synthesized and investigated as mushroom tyrosinase (TYR) inhibitors. The ability of HMTs to inhibit the diphenolase activity of TYR was evaluated with L-DOPA as substrate by determining IC₅₀ values in relation to their structure modifications. HMTs displayed distinct inhibitory competencies towards TYR activity with IC₅₀ values in the range of 1.02-143.56 μM. A close correlation between their inhibition potency and both lipophilicity and molecular size was observed. The inhibitory effect of the hydroxyethyl-containing derivatives was much higher than the hydroxyethyl-free ones overall. Among them, HMT-NBO exhibited the most potent effect with IC₅₀ of 5.85 μM, which was nearly 25-fold and 3.8-fold lower than its parent HMT-NBE and the control kojic acid, respectively. The hydroxyethyl clearly benefited the improvement of the inhibitory competences and acted as a regulating group of lipophilicity of the inhibitors. The kinetic analyses showed that HMTs were reversible and mixed type inhibitors against mushroom TYR. The inhibition mechanism was studied by means of fluorescence spectroscopy, FT-IR, ESI-MS and molecular docking analysis. The results indicated that the observed inhibitory effect of HMTs was accomplished by acting on the amino acid residues rather than by chelating the centre copper ions of TYR. Each of HMTs can insert the hydrophobic pocket and interact with the residues of TYR through Van der Waals forces and hydrogen bonds, with additional electrostatic interactions for HMT-NEE and HMT-NEO further strengthening the affinity. Meanwhile, the inhibitors were observed to bind with L-DOPA or/and L-DOPAquinone forming 1:1 stoichiometric complexes, probably exerting indirect inhibition against TYR activity.

4-Arylthiosemicarbazide Derivatives as Toxoplasmic Aromatic Amino Acid Hydroxylase Inhibitors and Anti-inflammatory Agents

Approximately one-third of the human population is infected with the intracellular cosmopolitan protozoan Toxoplasma gondii (Tg), and a specific treatment for this parasite is still needed. Additionally, the increasing resistance of Tg to drugs has become a challenge for numerous research centers. The high selectivity of a compound toward the protozoan, along with low cytotoxicity toward the host cells, form the basis for further research, which aims at determining the molecular targets of the active compounds. Thiosemicarbazide derivatives are biologically active organic compounds. Previous studies on the initial preselection of 58 new 4-arylthiosemicarbazide derivatives in terms of their anti-Tg activity and selectivity made it possible to select two promising derivatives for further research. One of the important amino acids involved in the proliferation of Tg and the formation of parasitophorous vacuoles is tyrosine, which is converted by two unique aromatic amino acid hydroxylases to levodopa. Enzymatic studies with two derivatives (R: para-nitro and meta-iodo) and recombinant aromatic amino acid hydroxylase (AAHs) obtained in the E. coli expression system were performed, and the results indicated that toxoplasmic AAHs are a molecular target for 4-arylthiosemicarbazide derivatives. Moreover, the drug affinity responsive target stability assay also confirmed that the selected compounds bind to AAHs. Additionally, the anti-inflammatory activity of these derivatives was tested using THP1-Blue™ NF-κB reporter cells due to the similarity of the thiosemicarbazide scaffold to thiosemicarbazone, both of which are known NF-κB pathway inhibitors.

Two Alkaloids From Delphinium brunonianum Royle, Their Anti-inflammatory and Anti-oxidative Stress Activity via NF-κB Signaling Pathway

In this study, we isolated and identified four compounds in Delphinium brunonianum Royle, and they were Delbrunine (1), 4-O-α-D-Glucosyl benzoic acid (2), Kaempferol 3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside 7-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside (3) and Eldeline (4). Furthermore, the anti-inflammatory activity of these compounds was screened in RAW264.7 cells. The results showed that the anti-inflammatory activities of compounds 2 and 3 were weak, and 1, 4 had good anti-inflammatory activity. The macrophage inflammation model was established by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Then, the anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated by ELISA kits, qRT-PCR experiment and western blot experiment. And the anti-oxidative stress activity was assessed by flow cytometry. The results showed that compounds 1, 4 could significantly inhibit the elevation of inflammatory factors nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and also had obvious inhibitory effects on the production of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2). In addition, compounds 1 and 4 could effectively inhibit the overexpression of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in RAW264.7 cells that activated by LPS. These results indicated that compounds 1 and 4 may exert anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative stress effects through the NF-κB signaling pathway.

Hypoxic and Hyperoxic Breathing as a Complement to Low-Intensity Physical Exercise Programs: A Proof-of-Principle Study

Inflammation is an adaptive response to both external and internal stimuli including infection, trauma, surgery, ischemia-reperfusion, or malignancy. A number of studies indicate that physical activity is an effective means of reducing acute systemic and low-level inflammation occurring in different pathological conditions and in the recovery phase after disease. As a proof-of-principle, we hypothesized that low-intensity workout performed under modified oxygen supply would elicit a "metabolic exercise" inducing a hormetic response, increasing the metabolic load and oxidative stress with the same overall effect expected after a higher intensity or charge exercise. Herein, we report the effect of a 5-week low-intensity, non-training, exercise program in a group of young healthy subjects in combination with the exposure to hyperoxia (30% and 100% pO₂, respectively) or light hypoxia (15% pO₂) during workout sessions on several inflammation and oxidative stress parameters, namely hemoglobin (Hb), redox state, nitric oxide metabolite (NOx), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), inflammatory cytokine expression (TNF-α, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10), and renal functional biomarkers (creatinine, neopterin, and urates). We confirmed our previous reports demonstrating that intermittent hyperoxia induces the normobaric oxygen paradox (NOP), a response overlapping the exposure to hypoxia. Our data also suggest that the administration of modified air composition is an expedient complement to a light physical exercise program to achieve a significant modulation of inflammatory and immune parameters, including cytokines expression, iNOS activity, and oxidative stress parameters. This strategy can be of pivotal interest in all those conditions characterized by the inability to achieve a sufficient workload intensity, such as severe cardiovascular alterations and articular injuries failing to effectively gain a significant improvement of physical capacity.